Cinderella (Modern adaptation)
by PyromaniacalNightFury
Summary: Cinderella, in modern day NYC. What's different? What's the same. And how will wooden spoons pose a threat to humanity?


**AN Alright, lets get started! I had to write a story for a school assignment lest year, which was Cinderella-based, but took place in modern times, and has obvious canon divergences from the typical Disney-type version. **

**I was just thinking that I should post this on Fanfiction, because it technically counts as 'fanfiction' because it's modern, unlike the original, and the characters are different, and do different things. Right? **

**Whatever, here it is, Enjoy! **

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**xXx**

Celeste Lofrsdóttir hated life. Her parents were dead, and her adoptive family made her life a living hell.

It had been eight years since "the accident." She only remembered parts of it, but it was still terrible. She remembered the screeching tires, the steel crunching like tin foil. She remembered breaking glass and screams she didn't even know she was making. She remembered the fire, then nothing. Just terrible, suffocating darkness.

She had miraculously come out of the wreckage with only a broken arm and leg. She remembered her mother telling her, before the crash, that everything would be all right, that of course they would get home fine. (Celeste never liked car travel.) As it happened, everything had not turned out alright. Oh no. She may have survived, but her parents were not so lucky.

Her father, who had been driving, was thrown through the windshield on impact and died almost instantly. Her mother, on the other hand, had been severely injured, and was in the hospital for a week on life support. Celeste had stayed with her the whole time. Before she had died, Celeste's mother left her in the custody of some old friends who lived in Manhattan.

There, for the next eight years of her life, she had stewed.

Her adoptive mother, Marie, had lost her husband in a house fire. She was left with her two daughters, Lara and Lily. Marie had become bitter after that, and when Celeste showed up on her doorstep, she lost it. Celeste was just another child she couldn't afford to take care of, and she never liked her very much to begin with. She probably would have sent Celeste to an orphanage if not for one reason: Celeste's mother had been there when the fire had happened. She stopped Marie from going back in for her husband. Marie had become angry with her, saying that if she hadn't been stopped, she could've gotten him out. But Marie would be dead if not for Celeste's mother, and she owed it to her to take care of Celeste.

However, that didn't mean she had to be happy about it, and she made it very clear that she was not at all happy about it. She gave Celeste only enough food to survive on, and an unused, cramped closet to sleep in.

"Celeste, get your butt down here, it's dinner time!" Aaand, that would be Lara, the older sister. She never liked Lara, she always sided with Marie, and therefore was very unpleasant to Celeste. Lily, on the other hand, was nice and was always friendly to Celeste. "Coming!" she called back. Ugh, dinner. Most people would be "oh boy, dinner, yay!" but not Celeste. There were a couple reasons for this. One was that Marie always gave her the unwanted parts of the meal. Two, she was always sent away from the table before she was done, and three, she always sat at the far end of the table, away from everyone else, and they talked about whatever while she was thoroughly ignored.

She also always had to wait for everyone else to use the bathroom. There were only two, and one was to be used only by Marie, so if Lara was in the bathroom, and Lily was waiting, Celeste was always at the back of the line. So a normal evening for Celeste was to eat the worst parts of the meal, be ignored, then wait about 20 minutes to use the bathroom. She was also denied freedoms the other girls had. She always had to be home by 7:00, while her sisters were free to stay out until 9:30. She was not given an allowance for her chores, like her sisters; she was just expected to do them. If she ever refused or broke any rules, Marie would beat her with a wooden spoon.

She was also dreading the beginning of school in September. She had a few friends, but not many. Lara, who was a prominent member of the 'popular' clique, was always making fun of Celeste. Naturally, a decent chunk of the grade followed suit.

The next morning when she woke up, it was Saturday, which meant no work. Every summer, Marie made celeste get a job, usually at a small shop. Celeste had haggled with Marie for over an hour which, resulted in a spoon beating and the agreement that marie would get ⅔ of the salary, and Celeste would get the remaining 1/3. She said she needed it to pay off bills, but Celeste knew that wasn't the reason.

Marie wasn't rich, but she was by no means poor. She probably just wanted to work Celeste and make a little money out of it too. As Celeste was making breakfast she overheard Marie talking. Apparently she and a good portion of the city was invited to a large party to celebrate the Mayor's son's birthday. She knew the Mayor's son. His name was Toby, and they had been the best of friends in middle school. Apparently, his father wanted him to go to some high-end private school, but he refused, saying that he just wanted a chance to be normal. She had actually harbored a bit of a crush on him, but then he transferred to a different high school and they lost contact.

As soon as Celeste finished her breakfast, she hurried upstairs to her closet. With the money she had saved over the years, she had bought a relatively cheap laptop and smuggled it home. She opened it and checked her email. To her delight, a new message popped up from the Mayor, which was a general invitation to the party. For a moment she felt giddy, but then she realized that Marie would never let her go. "Well then," she thought. "I guess that leaves only one option. I have to break out."

Later that day, Marie told Celeste that they were going shopping for clothes to wear to a party in celebration of the Mayor's son's birthday and would be back around 3. In an attempt to keep up her facade of innocence, she asked hopefully if she could go, knowing what the answer would be all the same.

"Of course not!" Marie replied, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Why would I let you come, it's not like you're going to the party!" she exclaimed. "But-" Celeste interrupted in protest. "No, you can't come," said Marie, cutting off Celeste, "you'd just make us look bad, and we can't have that, now can we!" she clucked superciliously. Celeste feigned disappointment. She had expected that, but if she asked to go to the party first, Marie would wonder how she found out about it because she certainly hadn't told her. She would then have found out about Celeste's laptop, which she wasn't supposed to have, and would proceed to get rid of it, and then she'd probably break out the ol' wooden spoon.

Celeste sullenly trod up the stairs and into her closet. When she heard Marie's triumphant 'hmph,' and the slam of the door, she knew it would be safe to exit. She remembered that Marie had said they'd be back by three, so all she had to do was be back by 2:30.

She grabbed her worn sneakers from the front of the hall, clambered up to her 'sisters' room, and opened the window. She hopped out the window and closed it behind her, careful not to lock it, before putting her shoes on and starting down the fire escape. The air was heavy and humid, amplified by the hot summer sun beating down on her. The smell of garbage and exhaust wafted up from the street. "Ahh, New York," she thought drily. The doorman, Fred, whom she had befriended, gave her an odd look as she passed by the front of the building, but she pressed her finger to her lips in the universal sign for 'quiet.'

Celeste would need decent clothing if she were to go to the party, and she was going all right, if for no other reason than to spite her adoptive family. Although, she would need to be careful. If her family spotted her in some random shop, there'd be hell to pay. She had brought about 2 years worth of savings, which equaled roughly 1,000 dollars, though she wouldn't use it all unless she decided she wanted to go as the Queen of England. At the end of her expedition, she had obtained a royal blue satin dress that went just below her knees, a faded denim jacket to wear over it, and a pair of plain black dress shoes. When she got back, she headed back up the fire escape and through the window. It took exactly 24 minutes for Marie and her daughters to get back, and they never suspected a thing.

It was the day of the party, which was to take place at Gracie Mansion at 6 pm on Friday, and everyone was excited. Five o'clock eventually rolled around and once again Marie informed Celeste that she and her daughters would be attending the party, that they would be home around 12. Celeste again trudged up the stairs to her closet, waited about 15 minutes, then set off down the fire escape. Fred gave her an encouraging wave as she walked away.

She had memorized the way to get to Gracie Mansion and was there in 10 minutes. She joined the throng of people vying for a place in the line at the entrance, and after 15 minutes she finally crossed the threshold and began to wander around. She saw her family at one point and veered in the opposite direction, knowing that they hadn't seen her because of they had, there'd be a gun to her head right now. After casually exploring the house, she returned to the main hall and saw Toby talking to a small mob of people. When the crowd cleared, she walked up to him. "Hello," she greeted him. He jumped in surprise. "Wha… ummm, do I know, wait… Celeste, is that you?" He stuttered, then his eyes lit up. "Hi, it's been a while, huh?" he said a bit awkwardly. "Yeah," she replied. "But I saw the announcement, and I thought I might as well come and say 'hi.'" The awkwardness gradually disappeared, and they were chatting like they were still in middle school.

They eventually joined the many people who were dancing and were enjoying themselves until Celeste saw the time. She had glanced at the large grandfather clock in the corner, then did a double take. It was 11:45. She remembered what Marie said about being back at 12:00. If they got back and Celeste wasn't there, well, she didn't want to think about it. "Uhh... "she stammered. "I have to go now. I have to be back by 12:00. I'll see you later, bye!" She rushed as fast as she could to the door. In her haste, she didn't notice that her necklace came off. It hit the floor with a thud nobody heard, then was kicked into a corner and forgotten.

The next morning Celeste woke up in her closet, as usual. She woke up slowly, as usual, then got up and proceeded to make breakfast, as was expected of her. Toby, the Mayor's son, woke up similarly, and strolled down into the living area. it was a mess. there were plastic cups and plates, bits of food, and … something sparkling in the corner. He walked over to investigate. It turned out to be a necklace, a simple black silk ribbon, and attached to it, a small stone with an strange rune on it. There was something familiar about it, though he couldn't place it. He went back upstairs, woke his computer, and sent out a mass email to everyone who had come, with a picture if the necklace, asking whoever it belonged to to come pick it up and the mansion.

Celeste had finished with her breakfast, and then went upstairs to her closet. Upon opening her laptop, she saw a new message from Toby with a picture of her necklace, with the message for the owner to come back to the mansion to retrieve it. To her delight, just such an opportunity arose. Marie had told everyone that she was going out for coffee with a friend of hers, and that she expected them all to behave. The moment she was out the door, Lara and Lily retreated into their room to do who knows what, and Celeste shut herself up in her closet. She knew the others wouldn't notice her absence and wouldn't care until Marie showed up and asked where she was. This time, she snuck out Marie's window, and speed-walked to the subway.

When she finally got to the mansion, she was panting. She walked up to the door and knocked. Toby opened it and gave her a curious look. "Celeste, why're you here?" he asked, confused. "I'm here to pick up my necklace," she replied, and a look of understanding crossed his face. "Ooohh, so that was yours," he said slowly. Then he grinned. "Yep," she replied. "Well, here you go." He handed the necklace to her. "Thanks!" she quipped, and kissed him on the cheek. His grin grew wider ...

**AN Whaddaya think! Yes, no, maybe? **

**If you're curious I'm also working on another long-ish story for HTTYD, which, similarly, is a modern AU. **

**Please review, fav, follow, go on a murdering spree, whatever you want. **

**Until I get around to writing something else! **


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